One of the best places for a shallow running crankbait is a flat with plenty of wood cover, and it’s often essential to crash the bait into the wood to get a strike. Remember, you can get a shallow-runner deeper by throwing it on lighter line. The XCalibur Square Lip was designed to ricochet off cover and come through the thick stuff. Make sure you’re hitting it. Likewise, if the area you’re fishing is less than 3 feet deep, heavier line will keep the bait running shallower.

Most anglers night fish during the summer, but the best time to night-fish for really big bass is during the prespawn when bass are at their heaviest. Big-bass expert and lure designer Mitch Looper likes to be on the water by 4 a.m. in early spring when a strong moon phase is at its peak about the time the sun comes up, such as when a full moon hits either horizon at dawn. He uses a lure designed for big bass, too, a Booyah A-Jig if fishing grass or weeds and a Pigskin when working rocks. He likes a YUM F2 Money Craw as the trailer.

Late fall can mean only one thing to a bass fisherman. Feeding Frenzy! This is the time of the year when bass feed heavily before winter. There are several lures and techniques that can be used, but my favorite lure choices are the Heddon Zara Spook and the Rebel Pop-R. During fall, bass come out of the deep water summer pattern and head toward the coves to feed. Shallow timbered coves with a small creek channel running through are good starting places. If you do not have any luck next to the bank, position the boat in the middle of the pocket and fan cast until you find them.

Suspended bass can be some of the most difficult fish to catch — simply because when they’re suspended they’re usually in an inactive mood and don’t want to chase a lure. But if you can keep something appealing in the strike zone long enough, they’re much more apt to bite. Two of the most effective lures I’ve found for this situation is the Smithwick 4 1/2-inch Suspending Rogue and the Bomber Long A. The reasons these baits work so well is they have the ability to deliver an enticing "darting" action and they suspend well in between twitches on or just above the bass’s depth level. This is an unbeatable technique — but naturally you’ll have to experiment with different sizes and colors.

My standard answer for people who live in the northern states is that bass become active as soon as the water is soft enough for the bait to sink. In the south, it's as soon as the water temperatures become consistent in the mid to upper 40s. I've caught many big bass in lakes and ponds with ice still on the water.